Fruit-drying tray.



A. VERNON.

FRUIT DRYING TRAY.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26. I917.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

invents-re AFFV.

aa'rnon VERNON, or FRESND, camronme.

FRUIT-DRYING TRAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1 918.

Application filed November 26, 1917. Serial No. 208,944.

which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to an improved tray for drying fruit.

Trays at present in use for the above purpose are made of shortwoodenboards secured to cleats, which are at the edges of the trays. Theseboards are exposed to moisture and the heat of the sun, and are,therethere, liable to become much warped and the fastening nailsloosened, so that, after being used a comparatively short time, they areapt to be loosened from the cleats, and

the whole tray either falls to pieces or is no longer fit for use. Ofcourse, after the boards have thus become warped, it is practicallyimpossible to restore them to their original form or condition.

The object of the present invention is to provide a fruit drying traywhich will be free from the above objections.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view showing oneside of my improved fruit drying tray; Fig. 2 is a similar view showinganother-side thereof; Fig. 3 is a similar view showing a number of suchtrays stacked one upon another; Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view ofa portion of a tray, a supporting strip being omitted; Fig. 5 is adetail perspective view of a supporting strip.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates my improved fruit drying tray,which is formed of strongly compressed wood pulp, by which is meant pulpobtained from wood or any vegetable fiber. It comprises, all in onepiece, a rectangular sheet 2, the ends of which are raised to form lowend walls 4. The sheet is perforated, as shown at 6, at suificientlyclose intervals to permit rain, or any other liquid, that may fall uponthe up-. per side of the sheet, to drain therefrom.

At its long edges the tray is formed with walls 7 extending bothupwardly and downwardly from the sheet, said walls being formed in thefollowing manner. The sheet is pressed, while still wet, to formchannels 8 at its long edges, and there are contained in said channelssupporting strips or rods 9 of strongly compressed pulp and. of the samelength as the tray. Each strip is thickest minishes in thickness bothupwardly and downwardly therefrom. The downward taper of the stripextends to its bottom, but upwardly the strip, after diminishing inthickness to a point not far from its upper surface, then expands, asshown at 11. The upper portion of the channel 8 likewise first contractsupwardly, as shown at 12, and then expands, as shown at 13, to receivethe expanding portion 11 of the strip. When the strip has been pushedinto the channel, it is held therein by the contracted portion 12 of thechannel, and .in addition glue or other cement is interposed between thestrip and the inner surface of the channel, to hold the two together.

The channel and strip thus extend both above and below the sheet to formside walls 14, 16, but the Walls 14 above the sheet are higher than thewalls 16 below the same.

The tray is placed with the lower walls 16 uppermost. The fruit is the-nspread out upon the tray. Then, when the fruit is sufliciently dry,another similar tray is placed on the first-named tray so as to have thesame side uppermost, and its higher walls 14, now depending from itslower surface, resting upon the lower walls 16, of thefirst-named,sheet. The sheets are then both inverted. When the sheetsare being inverted, the low walls 4 at their ends sufii-' cientlyprevent the fruit from escaping at the ends, while the walls 14 and 16prevent it from escaping from the sides. A number of sheets in theinverted position, having fruit thereon, are stacked one upon the other,as shown in Fig. 3, and allowed to dry. They are then subjected to thesulfuring process, by which is meant. exposure of the fruit to the fumesof burning sulfur, which has the effect of destroying germs on thesurface of the fruit and also bringing the'sugar in the fruit nearer toits surface.

During this process, the high walls 14 of one sheet and the low walls 16of the sheet immediately above it, space the sheets sufliciently farapart so that the fruit between the sheets is not crushed thereby. Atthe same time, the sheets are sufiiciently spaced by the walls 14, 16,to leave a sufiicient space at the ends between each sheet and the walls4 of the adjacent sheet, to permit the free circulation of the sulfurfumes between the sheets to obtain access to the surface of the fruitthereon.

1 at the middle portion of its height and di- A sheet constructed asabove described possesses marked advantages over the fruit drying traysat present in use. Belng madev of strongly compressed wood pulp, it isnot liable'to warp through heat, and therefore it is very durable andnever requires repairs.

. As compared With'wooden trays, it is more be made light and strong, ofspacing the v sheets apart so that the fruit is not crushed thereby, ofproviding a circulating space for exposing. the fruit to the fumes ofburning sulfur, and of rendering it easy to turn the trays withoutdislodging thefruit from its a position thereon.

The provision of the channels 8 and strips 9 in said channels enablesthe tray to be made cheaply and by simple compression of the wood pulp.The strips 9'enable the trays to support the great weight of manysuperincumbent trays and the fruit supported thereby.

I claim 1. A fruit drying tray formed of compressed pulp and comprisinga .rectangular perforated sheet having along two of its parallel edgescomparatively low walls and along the other two parallel edgescomparatively high Walls.

2. A fruit drying tray comprising a reotangular sheet of compressed pulphaving channels along two of its parallel edges and supporting stripsfitting snugly in said channels, said strips in such position extendingpartly above and partly below said sheets.

tangular sheet of compressed 3. A 'fruit drying tray comprising a reculphavin channels along two of its paral el edges an supporting stripsfitting snugly in said channels, said strips in such position eXtendingboth above and below said sheets,'said channels and strips havingcontracted portions, and being enlarged in width on eachside of saidcontracted portions to retain the strips in the channels.

4. A fruit drying tray comprising a rectangular sheet of compressed pulphavin channels along two of its parallel edges an supporting stripsfitting snugly in said channels, said strips in such position extendingboth above and below said sheets, to form side walls, said stripsextending from one side of the sheet being higher than thoseextendingfrom the other side.

5. A fruit drying tray comprising a rectangular sheet of compressed pulphaving channels along two of its parallel edges and supporting stripsfitting snugly in said channels, said strips 'in such position extendingboth above and below said sheets, to formside walls, the walls extendingfrom one side of the sheet being higher than those extending from theother side, and the sheet having end walls extending on the same side ofthe sheet as the higher side walls.

6. A fruit drying tray comprising a rectangular sheet having on oneside, along two of its parallel edges, comparatively low walls, andalong the othertwo parallel edges comparatively high walls, and havingon the other side, along the first-named edges no walls, and along thelast-named edges comparatively low walls. a ARTHUR VERNON.

